Arisaema tortuosum, the Whipcord Cobra Lily, is a species of considerable stature, up to 1.5 meter in gardens, but larger in the wild, maybe up to 2 meters. It is native from the Himalayas and western China to southern India and Myanmar (Burma). Arisaema tortuosum is so-called for the tortuous route taken by the spadix. The thick, 4' tall, fleshy stalk emerges in early June, adorned by two tropical-looking palmate green leaves near the top. As the leaves unfurl, the pitcher that tops the stem opens to reveal a green Jack-in-the-pulpit flower, but with a whip-like tongue that extends from the mouth of the flower upwards to 12 or more inches. Sometimes the spadix-appendage is green, other times it is purple. The flowers are dioecious, individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant.
